Some people think their vote doesn’t matter. The ongoing ballot count for the annexation of North Juanita, Kingsgate and Finn Hill is evidence that every vote can make a difference.
After more than a week of tallying, annexation has gone from a comfortable lead to now under the 60 percent threshold. As of 3:30 p.m. Monday, the measure has fallen below the mark by just 11 votes, with 12 votes to count. More ballots could still come in this week. Annexation currently has 59.89 percent in favor and 40.11 percent against the measure.
“We’re not surprised by the trend,” said No Annexation chair Scott Brady. “We found that the sentiment in the community was against annexation when we went door to door. We’re very interested in hearing how the Kirkland City Council justifies the cost of annexation if bonded debt cannot be passed on to residents of the annexation area.”
More than 10,756 votes were cast either in favor or against the measure.
But the trend has been toward not annexing the areas into Kirkland. On election night, the “Yes” vote received 62 percent, but has lost ground ever since.
“There are still more ballots out there to be counted,” said Johanna Palmer, chair of the Annexation YES Committee. “As someone once said, ‘it’s not over until it is over.’”
Palmer said that her group would prefer not to take the issue back to the council, but would if the trend continues. She added that her group might ask the council to annex the area as they did in 1988 when the Rose Hill neighborhood failed to receive 60 percent but was over 50 percent.
“That would open it up for legal challenges,” said Brady.
In both cases, the 60 percent threshold was implemented as a part of the ballot measure because the annexation area would be asked to be partly responsible for Kirkland’s debt as a part of the city.
“Several hundred people did not vote on this issue and there were 9,000 people who chose not to vote at all,” said Palmer.
In the Rose Hill annexation the city council granted the annexation without the bonded indebtedness.
But the debt is not the only reason the No Annexation Committee objects to the measure.
“We would not have been out there day after day in the rain and cold if we thought that annexation was a good idea,” said Brady.
Palmer said that one of the group’s biggest concerns prior to the election was that citizens would be scared off by accepting the indebtedness of Kirkland.
“It is really more scary than it seems,” said Palmer. “I am still confident that we will get annexation accepted in the next couple of months.”
Many ballots have been received that have not been counted as signatures could not be verified. An administrative recount could also take place before the certification of all election results on Nov. 24.
